Shenyang Dawn Arsenal
The Shenyang Dawn Arsenal, formerly known as the Mukden Arsenal or Hōten Arsenal in Japanese (奉天工廠 Hōten Kōshō), was an arms arsenal based in Shenyang, China that produced arms from 1897 to around 1969. Originally a small arms factory located in the area, the company was slowly expanded until it became a wide network of factories during the World Wars. History The Shenyang Dawn Arsenal can trace its roots back to 1897 when a small gun manufacturing plant was set up in Mukden, Manchuria. Noted Chinese warlord Zhang Zuolin wanted to increase this asset and eventually took control of the company. This company was named the Mukden Arsenal.https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/2017/04/03/mukden-arsenal-after-wwii/ After Zhang took control of the company, he sought to expand the company to become a large manufacturing asset in Manchuria. His opportunity came as World War I was drawing to a close in Europe, where it became clear that the Austro-Hungarian empire was doomed to fall. One of Zhang's lieutenants had connections with the Far East sales agent of Böhler, an Austro-Hungarian manufacturing company which covertly produced riflers and frame presses clandestinely to other sources due to the Armistice. Eventually, some ex-Böhler engineers took Zhang up on an offer and ventured to Manchuria to work for him. Additional equipment came from Danish company Nielsen & Winther in the 1920s, and during that time the Arsenal had some 1,516 foreigners, including Austrians, Soviet Russians, Britons and even some Americans. By the end of the 1920s the arsenal was producing 4,000 rifles a day and 400,000 rounds of ammunition a day. In 1931, the company was seized by the Imperial Japanese Army and renamed Mukden Army, Inc. The company eventually became dedicated to serving the Japanese Army. The company would be partially owned by the puppet government of Manchukuo and the remaining half being split equally among Japanese companies Mitsui and Okura. Czech company Škoda showed interest in purchasing the company from the Japanese in the 1930s, although this never happened as Czechoslovakia became a government-in-exile in 1939. While the arsenal remained active through World War II, it soon became clear that Imperial Japan was going to lose the war and slowdowns and absenteeism in the company soon became very common. On 9 August 1945, just a few hours before an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, twelve Soviet Army regiments and one Mongol group launched an invasion on Manchuria; the Soviet Army overran the Mukden Arsenal and its associated facilities nine days into the twelve-day offensive. While the invasion was in full swing, the arsenals were looted extensively by the Soviets; why the arsenals were looted is unknown, although it is suspected that Stalin was saving the arsenal's remains for his own use. The arsenal was renamed back to Fengtian Arsenal with the area it was situated in being renamed from Mukden to Fengtian, the area's traditional name. Come 1946, sufficient gear was acquired to allow Fengtian Arsenal to be partially opened. In 1946, the arsenal was renamed the 90th North China Arsenal, and was finally renamed the Shenyang Dawn Arsenal in 1948. In 1953, the government of Mao Zedong declared that the old arsenal be converted to aerospace use. Conversion began in 1954 and ended around 1969, with the last firearms produced by the arsenal being from around that year. Products Shenyang Dawn Arsenal was known for the production of various firearms, most notably the Liao-13, commonly known as the "Mukden Mauser". Other firearms produced by the arsenal in its various iterations include the Type 36 submachine gun and an unidentified submachine gun which appears to be a copy of the Japanese Type 2 submachine gun. References Category:Companies